Job Postings and Research Opportunities

This page provides a list of job openings and research opportunities of interest to the industrial ecology community. We are using the blogging feature of our website for this page. To post a new job opportunity, please send your notice to the ISIE office. We will delete these posts after six months or whenever you notify us that the opening has been filled.

Irstea is a French public research institute in science and technology for environment and agriculture. The SAFIR research team (Strategies for improving the organic waste management schemes and reducing their impacts) - which the post is attached to - studies the environmental and sanitary impacts of effluents and organic waste management as well as the organizational and technical aspects of these sectors.

Position in research team

You will work for a research project named BIORARE (including Irstea, INRA Narbonne, LGC Toulouse and Suez Environment) funded, since 2010, by the French National Research Agency (ANR) throughout the call "Biotechnologies and Bioresources" as part of the "Future Investment" program. BIORARE is based on a fundamentally innovative technology: the microbial electrosynthesis which allows the recovery of organic waste in added value molecules for green chemistry. BIORARE implements a bio-electrochemical system (BES) coupled to a biogas plant for solid waste. You will be involved in support of the Work Package 4 (WP4) of this project.

Activity description

WP4 concerns the implementation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach for assessing the environmental performances of the BES. In the early years of the project, BES and its insertion in a biogas sector (organic waste management through anaerobic digestion) were modeled for the production of bioethanol thanks to GaBi 6 (LCA software). Furthermore, the sensitive parameters and possible ways of improving the BES system have been identified from an environmental point view. The remaining work consists in:

Improving the robustness of the model already realized following the progress of the partners;

Modeling another target molecule with higher added value from the corpus of molecules identified in market research (instead of bioethanol);

Realizing an analysis of uncertainties thanks to the use of parameters and their variation;

Participating in the "consortium" publication.

Over time, you will be able to analyze and help to ecodesign industrial strategies for this process.

This position requires good knowledge in environmental assessment and process engineering or chemical engineering. Some knowledge of uncertainties analysis is desired. Good writing skills, strong interpersonal skills, a strong sense of organization and fluent English are required.

Position taking: before the end of 2015 And position type : fixed-term contract of 1 year

To apply for the position: please send your curriculum vitae and your cover letter to lynda.aissani@irstea.fr until Wednesday, September 30th 2015

Reverse Logistics Group Americas (RLGA) was created to remove the complexity of take-back programs and regulatory compliance for companies and brands within the Americas through the provision of cost-efficient, environmentally sound solutions that meet all legislative obligations and customer requirements. RLGA is a part of the Reverse Logistics Group. The RLG Group is active in Europe, the Americas and Asia. In the US we have offices in Fremont, CA and Iselin, NJ. We have company subsidiaries in Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

Responsibilities:

Promote RLGA and its mission to help enable a circular economy to potential customers.

Assist in development of marketing and sales tools including the target list of key potential customers for RLGA’s Take-back and Regulatory Compliance solutions.

Meet regularly with prospective new clients to deliver sales presentations, follow up with key decision makers and sell all services, including total waste stream management solutions, as appropriate.

Utilize the company’s Contact Relationship Management (“CRM”) tool on a daily basis, schedule and document all activities, and develop information profiles on prospective customers to facilitate acquisition of new customers.

Reverse Logistics Group Americas offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental, and vision plans as well as a 401(k) company match.
If you meet the requirements of this unique opportunity, we encourage you to explore how you can make a difference at RLGA by applying now

Institutions: Department of Environmental Quality, State of Oregonhttps://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/oregon/jobs/1180846/operations-and-policy-analyst-3-senior-policy-analyst

Location:Oregon, USA

Deadline: 13 August, 2015

Description

DEQ's mission is to be a leader in restoring, maintaining and enhancing the quality of Oregon's air, land and water. As a regulatory agency whose job is to protect the quality of Oregon's environment, DEQ works with Oregonians for a healthy, sustainable environment.

The Materials Management Section plans and implements policies, programs and projects to reduce impacts of materials and products throughout their full life cycle, from design and production through distribution, consumption and use and management at end-of-life.

DEQ has an exceptional opportunity for candidates interested in serving as an Operations & Policy Analyst 3 (Senior Policy Analyst) in our Materials Management Section of the Environmental Solutions Division. The position serves as a senior policy analyst in support of the Materials Management Section and Materials Management in Oregon: 2050 Vision and Framework for Action.

The successful candidate will work closely with the program's management team, legislative analyst and senior project staff and will lead and participate in teams evaluating and developing policy options, administrative rules, legislative proposals and strategic plans for the program as well as specific projects. S/he will conduct extensive engagement with stakeholders on specific projects, policies and legislative issues and will lead the development of a regular forum to facilitate communication between DEQ and stakeholders. Experience in materials management, including extended producer responsibility, is desirable but not required.

One of the selected candidate's first projects will be to lead a team to develop administrative rules to revise recycling program elements and create new waste prevention/reuse program elements required of cities and counties, consistent with recently adopted legislation (SB 263). S/he will also serve as a subject matter expert in the area of extended producer responsibility.

Duties & Responsibilities

Coordinate and lead planning initiatives to update and implement the program's long term vision

Ability to envision alternative futures for production and consumption of materials and identify reasonable strategies leading to these

Knowledge of regulatory and non-regulatory options for influencing or shaping market decisions

Additional Information

Application Screening: In order to evaluate your experience as it relates to this position, we need detailed responses to the supplemental questions. Please respond completely in the space provided; responses to the supplemental questions will be considered when determining which applicants, among those who meet the minimum qualifications, will be invited to interview. Failure to respond to each question in the space provided for that question may result in disqualification of your application.

Your application and application materials must be consistent and thorough in order to be considered. If the information contained in your answers to each of the supplemental questions is not reflected in your work history, your application may be removed from consideration. Your cover letter and resume will not replace an incomplete application or work history.

Please note that your responses may also be evaluated for grammar, spelling and punctuation.

To apply for this position, follow the "Apply" link above to complete the Oregon Employment Application on line. All application materials must be received by the closing date/time posted.

Only complete applications will be considered. Be sure to answer all supplemental questions and attach any required documents.

A current cover letter is a required part of this application. Information in the cover letter, as well as responses to the supplemental questions, will be reviewed to determine candidates who qualify and whose experience best matches the requested skills.

To receive credit for higher education coursework, transcripts (official or unofficial) must be submitted at the time of application. Note: To protect your confidential information, please redact (black out) your social security number on all transcripts before attaching to your application.

Salary: the Department of Environmental Quality's practice is to begin employees at the first pay step. However, a higher starting pay rate may be considered, budget permitting, depending upon the applicant's work history, current salary and benefits.

Union: This position is represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Local 3336.

The State of Oregon now requires all applicants provide an email address. If you do not currently have an e-mail address, refer to our Frequently Asked Questions web page. In the "Getting Started" section, scroll down to "I don't have an email address. What can I do?" section. The State of Oregon does not endorse any particular provider. For your convenience, here's the link to the page:
http://www.oregon.gov/jobs/Pages/FAQ.asp

The Department of Environmental Quality is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. DEQ welcomes applications from women, veterans, people of color, and individuals with disabilities.

If you have a disability or otherwise require assistance, you may contact us at:

Your key aims will be to contribute to research excellence on sustainable and resilient cities at the University of Leeds in terms of leadership, high profile publications and impact cases; to increase the international and national profile of this research excellence, and to foster collaboration in research and teaching on sustainable and resilient cities within the University. Cities need the necessary capacity to match policies, finance, governance, technologies and business models across scales to deliver innovative solutions to contemporary problems.

You will be expected to conduct independent and collaborative research, participate and lead on research funding bids, publish in leading academic journals, and disseminate your findings in policy-relevant arenas. You will also supervise PhD students in the interdisciplinary sustainable and resilient cities theme under faculty and cross-faculty doctoral training initiatives, such as the ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Centre and the EPSRC Bioenergy Centre for Doctoral Training, for example. You will play a key role in teaching which could potentially include the core BA/BSc and MSc modules within the Sustainability Research Institute programs. The teaching topics will include interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability, risks, hazards and resilience, through business models, governance and organisational capacity, community decision-making, and appropriate investment in sustainability and resilience. You will be expected to collaborate with the city of Leeds as a living lab for research, with considerable support from Leeds city partners.

You will have significant proven interdisciplinary research experience within the field of Sustainable and Resilient Cities, including a significant publication track record, a proven ability to work with stakeholders beyond academia, and participation in funding bids. In terms of teaching, a successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the ability to teach at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.

Institutions: National Graduate School of Engineering Chemistry of Lillehttp://www.ensc-lille.fr/art106-106-182-training-at-enscl.html

Location:Villeneuve d’Ascq - France

Deadline: 30 September2015

Life cycle assessment of industrial processes used in the dairy industries

Laboratory description

The project will be carried out between two research groups of UMET (Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials and Engineering of polymeric systems) in collaboration with the Laboratory of Mechanics of Lille (Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille, LML).

The UMET laboratory (Unit of Materials and Transformations) was created in January 2010 following the merger of four former laboratories of the Lille campus. It hosts a large part of the research in Materials Science of the University of Lille. The laboratory includes 52 professors and assistant professors, 11 CNRS researchers, 20 technical and admin staff, 53 PhD students, and 9 researchers on temporary contracts or emeritus, accounting for a total of about 150 members, including 83 permanent staff. The laboratory is divided into five research groups:

Molecular and therapeutic materials

Physics of minerals

Metallurgy and engineering of materials

Interface Processes and Hygiene of Materials

Engineering of polymeric systems

All groups work in materials science, but with different applications. The UMET laboratory belongs also to a larger consortium (research federation) called "Fédération de Recherche Michel-Eugène Chevreul", that hosts laboratories related to materials science in Northern France. The UMET is one of the three largest members of the consortium. Among other tasks, the consortium is in charge of running large scale experimental facilities (NMR, electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, mass spectroscopy, vibrationnal spectroscopy...). The UMET is hosting the common Research Center of Microscopies of the University of Lille within its building and provides the associated technical staff.

The Laboratory of Mechanics is equally a CNRS affiliated research structure, which is specialized in the study of the mechanical behaviour and properties of different materials for industrial applications and under divers solicitations. It is composed of around 100 permanent staff and has for academic supervisors the University Lille 1, the engineering schools Ecole Centrale de Lille and ENSAM (Ecole Nationale d'arts et Métiers).

Research project

Fouling in food-processing industries leads to the functional decline of thermal and hydrodynamic equipment performances, decreased product quality and lack of sterility as well as decrease of the surface hygiene. These last points particularly induce a severe sanitary risk by favouring the development of pathogenic agents. Food contamination creates an enormous social and economic burden on communities and their health systems. These serious consequences force the food-processing industries, and particularly the milk-processing industries, to take drastic and expensive daily cleaning measures leading also to environmental concerns. Indeed, the frequent cleanings result in a pronounced impact due to the high amounts of detergents and energy required for cleaning generating excess effluent. One way among others to solve this problem is for example to develop antifouling surface treatments to durably reduce the fouling and cleaning frequencies in the dairy industry. However, the environmental footprint of such treatment was never reported in the literature.

In that frame, the objectives of this project are to develop a methodology permitting to assess the environmental footprint and to consider the sustainability criteria of processing / cleaning cycles / alternative technical solutions proposed in the literature and developed in our research teams. In particular, this includes the consideration of the main steps of the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology as they are defined by the actual ISO normalisation (the 14040-14044 standards). A particular attention will be given to some important points, respectively: i) the definition of the main system boundaries and of the functional unit of the considered system, (considering the quality and the nutritional value of the products), ii) the selection of the relevant impact categories (choice of indicators covering all relevant environmental, economic and social impacts), iii) the handling of allocation criteria.

New data quality indicators allowing to assess the uncertainty (methodological, technical, and related to the collected or available data) and variability (geographic and temporal) will be developed. In particular reliability, completeness, temporal, geographical and technological correlation will be considered, they will be evaluated by considering the main collected parameters of the developed processes and materials combined with statistical methods. The project will include three main steps:

The LCA of the industrial references processes. Based on the bibliographic data of the standard conditions used in the milk industries a first environmental assessment will be developed, the obtained results will constitute the comparison base for the alternative processes that will be assessed.

Use of the LCA methodology for the assessment, the selection and the analysis of the most relevant processes and cleaning sequences.

Investigate the extrapolation of the LCA regarding a change of the scale (from Lab to pilot scales).

Qualifications/Requirements: The candidate should have a PhD thesis in the field of materials or engineering process including the sustainable approach. He/she should demonstrate the ability to work in a team, have a good record of researchand quality such as conscientiousness, enthusiasm… Benefits: the knowledge of an LCA software would be appreciated.

Institutions: The Faculty of Applied Sciences, the University of Artois, inside LGCgE Laboratory (Civil Engng and geo Environment Laboratory)http://www.univ-artois.fr/

Location:Béthune France

Deadline: 1 November 2015

Post-doctoral position:

Implementing LCA and LCCA in building renewal. Context: The Faculty of Applied Sciences, from the University of Artois, inside LGCgE Laboratory (Civil Engng and geo Environment Laboratory), offers a 12 months post-doctoral position located in Bethune city, France, starting early in 2016.

This position is part of a research project, in partnership with a social housing rental company Maisons et Cités, SOGINORPA, with CD2E, CIRAIG and 3 other partners. This project will be dedicated to the life cycle analysis and life cycle cost analysis of the renewal of mid-20th century buildings. The project aim is to initiate the development of a practical tool that could help the social landlord and the architect in their choice of environment friendly and cost friendly construction materials and flat equipment.

The missions of the post-doc first consist in supporting and developing the LCA and LCCA on a representative renewal. In a second step, the results will highlight action levers in order to reach the best possible environmental performance and rules will be drawn from those analysis. In the last step of the project, different paths will be considered for the development of a future tool, practitionnable by any landlord or architect.

More information can be obtained from alain.bataille@univ-artois.fr

Applicant:

The candidate has an initial education and expertise in Civil Engineering and/or construction material. An Experience in Life Cycle Analysis or in LCCA (data collection, analysis practice, sensibility …) would be appreciated.

A good level in English is essential. French language mastering would also be of importance.

The candidate should have a sense of initiative, of autonomy and of supervisor reporting.

To apply:

Please send a letter, a detailed CV, as well as any useful document (reports, PhD thesis, articles…) before 1 st November 2015, to Alain. Bataille@univ-artois.fr

On the basis of sent documents, applicants will be selected for an interview at the end of 2015.

The CSM is a leading research, teaching and transfer institution in the context of sustainability management and innovation and has about 25 employees. The university has been on an ambitious and widely recognised transformation process towards a sustainable university for more than a decade.

The position is part of an integrated research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and the State of Lower Saxony, Germany (“Niedersachsen Vorab”) on the topic of “Sustainable consumption of ICT: dialogue and transformation through open innovation”. The successful candidate will be responsible for a work package dealing with the analysis of collaborative innovation approaches for sustainable products and services in the mobile phone sector, particularly from an integrated product development perspective (e.g. eco, social or modularised phone design and related services). The work package is supervised by Prof. Erik G. Hansen (close collaboration with the 2nd work package, supervised by Prof. Stefan Schaltegger).

The successful (PhD-) candidate will investigate current and future demands for building materials as well as the extent of construction and demolition waste using scenario methods. To this end it is planned to develop a settlement model to describe the future development of the built environment (buildings and infrastructure) and to derive respective material flows.

Funding is based on a third-party budget in line with the general accord of the German Länder (TV-L).